Exploring the World of Craft Meat
Press release: Crowd Cow has Japan’s most exquisite steak
February 23rd, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 7,999 times • less than one min read
On February 28, Crowd Cow is offering a limited amount of A5 Wagyu imported directly from Japan. A5 Wagyu contains higher proportions of healthy omega-3 fatty acids than Angus steak and is legendary for umami flavor, filigreed marbling, and fat so soft it melts against your skin. Our A5 Wagyu comes from the Kuroge Washu breed -- one of four native Wagyu breeds in Japan and the only one genetically predisposed to fine-grained intramuscular...
How small farms benefit from Crowd Cow
February 19th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 7,190 times • 5 min read
Small producers in this country often face a tough choice: send their cattle off the auction yard for a cut-rate price, or raise the animals to maturity and take on the often overwhelming expense of marketing, logistics and support to sell their beef directly to eaters. The lure of selling direct is great: farmers could earn a higher price per pound for their meat than what they earn through auction. But there are several challenges for a...
Coming soon! Little Shasta: A grass-finished ranch with deep roots in California
January 25th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 6,617 times • 1 min read
In 1862, Stan Sears’s family settled in mountainous Siskiyou County, California. More than 150 years later, cows still dot the same original property that his family settled. When Stan Sears graduated from Cal Poly in the sixties with a degree in Animal Sciences, he came straight back to the family ranch, and ramped up efforts to expand the farm's acreage and focus on rotational grazing and land preservation. These days, Stan is all about...
We're working with a new farm! Burke's Garden Farm, an Amish ranch in "God's Thumbprint"
December 1st, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 8,694 times • 1 min read
If you flew over the remote community of Burke’s Garden in a plane, you’d see a valley spread out below you like a crater in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. Appalachian Trail thru-hikers who come upon it don’t know they’ve stumbled into a place locals call “God’s Thumbprint” -- they just know they’ve happened upon the most beautiful, secluded vista they’ve seen on the trail yet. Much of Burke’s Garden is covered by Burke’s Garden...
How to Grill Frozen Patties
November 21st, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 6,704 times • less than one min read
You can save time and enjoy perfect hamburgers by grilling frozen patties. There’s no easier way to prepare great hamburgers every time than starting with premium patties and grilling straight from frozen. Prep the Patties Grab the patties right out of your freezer. Cut open the pack and use a sturdy grilling spatula to carefully split them apart. Remove any paper separators. Season the burgers lightly with salt and pepper. Note:...
Can I cook frozen steaks without thawing? You can (and you should)!
November 20th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 77,170 times • 1 min read
Wondering whether to let those frozen steaks thaw or cook them straight from frozen? You're not the only one! We get this question a lot. You should cook your steak directly from frozen, every time. It's just better. That's our personal take after preparing countless steaks ourselves -- but don't take our word for it. Cook's Illustrated senior editor Dan Souza did an experiment with 8 frozen New York Strip steaks, cooking half straight...
We're working with a new grass-finished farm in the Western Catskills
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 5,125 times • 1 min read
At Slope Farms in New York’s Western Catskills, Ken and Linda Jaffe are raising 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef on hilly, ridge-top pastures that like much of the land in New England is ideally suited for grazing healthy and happy cattle. Their farm divides the waters flowing into Deleware and Susquehanna Rivers, and grows a mix of lush grasses during the damp summers and cold winters. Ken farms in a way that allows grassland...
Why is "Kobe Beef" so famous?
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 99,001 times • 8 min read
And what are you missing out on if it's the only brand of Japanese beef you know? The term “Kobe Beef” is one of the most famous — almost mythical -- terms in the world of food. It’s also one of the most misunderstood and misused. Outside of Japan, the phrase “Kobe Beef” has become almost synonymous with “Japanese beef” or “Wagyu”, but it's not that simple. Let's break it down. Wagyu = "Japanese beef" Wagyu is just a word that means...
Japan Holds a “Best Beef Olympics” Every Five Years - Guess who won this year?
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 36,880 times • 1 min read
It's the Olympic Games you've never heard of. Since 1966, Japan's beef industry has held a nationwide competition every five years to crown the best beef in the country. It's called Zenkoku Wagyu Noryku Kyoshin-kai (全国和牛能力共進会) but it's known also as "The Wagyu Olympics." There are 11 prize categories, one of the more interesting of which measures the quality of the fats (looking for things like the health-promoting and umami-generating oleic...
Top Japanese Chef Reveals How to Cook A5 Kobe Beef
November 6th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 119,974 times • 1 min read
Recently I had the privilege of spending time with one of Japan's top Kobe Beef chefs, Mitsuo Yamamoto of Steak Sakura (2-11-14 Sennichimae, Chuo-ku Namba Daiichi Bldg. 1F, Osaka) to learn how to properly grill Kobe Beef and other A5 Wagyu (as you probably know by now, there are many types of A5 Wagyu, and Kobe is only one of them). I flew into Osaka, and Chef Yamamoto opened his restaurant early so we could cook. We walked together into...
